Konoha.
Hokage Building, Conference Hall.
The silence in the hall was palpable, Tsunade's words having changed the atmosphere in the hall completely.
Thup!
But the silence in the hall was broken shortly, not by Hokage, not by the elders or even kazuki but the jonin who had requested this trial and witnessed the trial standing at the corner.
"It was you Princess Tsunade? we didn't know anything about this; if we did we wouldn't have dared requesting a trail"
"We are terribly sorry!"
Said a jonin to Tsunade in a hurried tone, regret easily to spot all over his face, the other jonin also apologizing without any hesitation.
"Ha!"
At their words Tsunade scoffed and turned her eyes to give Sarutobi and the elders a look.
"It's been just over a day when the streets rang with his chants and yet here he stands before everyone like a criminal"
"You enjoy this peace because of his deeds—from rescuing me from the Third Kazekage to incapacitating Roshi and killing Han. And this is his reward?"
"Just because some grown-ups are jealous of the success of someone quarter of their age, you all decided to forget everything he did for the village and put him on a trail like a seasoned criminal, even stressing him with the possibility of his parent's imprisonment and execution"
"Just because of an insignificant jutsu, really sensei?"
Asked Tsunade with disbelief and disappointment evident in her voice, her eyes that used to look at Sarutobi with admiration no longer so.
At Tsunade's words, Sakumo and the clan chiefs all turned to gaze at Sarutobi and the elders with an anticipating look on the face for their response.
None of them actually supported this trial and were only here because of the orders.
Anger clearly appeared on Koharu's face due to Tsunade's words as unable to hold herself back, she responded in a loud tone
"Don't try to lessen others sacrifice in this war Tsunade, no one deny's his contributions but don't think konoha would have lost if he wasn't present"
"And this whole mess is because of you in the first place Tsunade; if you had reported about giving him the jutsu none of this would have happened!"
"I'm not entitled to inform about everything I do, old hag!"
Yelled Koharu at Tsunade with an enraged face on whose forehead veins appeared and countered back mercilessly.
"You-
Being called an "old hag" was like someone stepping on a cats tail for Koharu, nearly jumping up from her seat to curse back but Sarutobi's enraged voice stopped the increasing drama.
"That's enough!!"
Said Sarutobi with his one hand raised and a tired look on his face, Koharu and Tsunade both going silent at his words but still giving each other death stares.
Thup!
Seeing them silent, Sarutobi stood up from his chair and gave Kazuki who stood next to him a pat on his shoulders, speaking in a worn out voice next moment.
"Tsunade's right, while upholding a fair treatment is important but that doesn't mean we have to insult those who had endured hardships for the village"
"I hope you can show a big heart and forgive these jonin; they didn't do this out of hate for you, I know you understand that"
….
Said Sarutobi to Kazuki who at his words didn't respond and stayed silent, no disappointment or anger or anything on his face.
Now I understand why I didn't feel anything at that moment Said Kazuki inwardly, remembering the moment when he entered the village and despite the chants he hardly felt excited or happy.
What happened today had made him understand that.
Empty words of people who one day will sing your songs and the next day try to scheme against you, they can never make you truly happy and proud.
Only when he had seen Kushina and Minato cheering for him, he truly felt happy and laughed heartily.
Sigh…
Seeing him silent, Sarutobi let out a sigh and with a troubled face turned around to face the people gathered.
"Now that we know Kazuki acquired the forbidden jutsu through Tsunade; there's no need for this trial to continue"
"Kazuki and his parents are proven innocent of any ninjutsu theft"
Thud!
Saying that Sarutobi with a worried and tired face turned around walked out of the hall.
Sarutobi left the hall and the elders followed him suit, Koharu till the last moment looking at Tsunade with angry eyes who provocatively looked back without showing any fear.
The Clan leaders at this moment walked up to Kazuki, taking his attention.
"Kazuki-Kun" Said Hyuga Nagito lightly as he approached him "I apologize for the trial today, none of us here doubted you at any moment, we were here because we were ordered to"
Said Nagito looking at Kazuki with his pale eyes, sincerity in his tone.
Only someone with a huge lump in his head would want to establish a bad relationship with someone as strong as kazuki, so he tried his best to explain his reluctance to participate in this trial.
"I understand that Nagito-san" Said Kazuki in response lightly, he knew that none of the clan heads here were against him as they had no reason to be, even in Sarutobi's eyes he saw regret of conducting this trial.
This trial was not pushed forward by any higher ups of the village, truly the wish of couple of jonin's who thought that it was unfair.
The other clan chiefs also tried to assure Kazuki who calmly expressed his understanding as eventually they all dispersed, leaving Kazuki and Tsunade in the hall.
"Thank you, I'm truly grateful for today Lady Tsunade"
Said Kazuki to Tsunade with utmost sincerity in his tone, he was not someone ungrateful as Tsunade had truly helped him deal with a serious problem.
While he didn't care about himself that much, but his parents and older sisters' reputation was on the line so he didn't want it ruined because of him.
Thup!
"Hahaha! Don't be like that" Laughed Tsunade at his words and approaching him placed a hand on his shoulders, tilting her head up to look at him.
"What I have done doesn't even come close to what you did for me, not even by a mile so don't feel like you owe me anything"
"Though if you still want to thank me; I'd prefer you calling me just Tsunade, Seriously! I think we have known each other long enough for you to remove honorifics"
Hearing her, Kazuki felt a warmth that no jutsu could replicate as a light smile crept on his face.
"Yes, Lady Tsunade!" Said Kazuki while smiling.
Tsunade: - "…."
"Never mind, you'll probably stop yourself when you get a little older; let's go to yakiniku now, you must be hungry after all this, I left Nawaki waiting there as well"
Suggested Tsunade as next moment she walked towards the exit, Kazuki who from last night had his appetite gone due to the trail nodding and following her out.
Read chapters ahead on p@treon.com/Gojo6666.
Flashback}
(Three and a half years ago, just half a year before the start of second ninja world war)
Konoha.
At the forest behind the hokage mountains, among the towering trees trained a kid who looked around nine or ten with his silver hair soaked from sweat even the black tank top he wore drenched as well.
The ground around him had pits and puddles of water near as well, the figure seemed busy in his ninjutsu training.
Swish!
Suddenly there was a subtle movement in the woods around the silver haired kid, couple of shurikens cutting through the air approached him at high speed.
Swoosh!
Kazuki noticed the approaching attacks immediately as without panicking he gathered chakra in his soles and dashed away, easily dodging the sudden attack.
Clap! Clap!
Dodging the attack, Kazuki turned his head to look towards the woods with a calm face as next moment there was a sound of clapping, followed by a figure around 160 cm tall walking out of the woods.
She wore a konoha headband on her forehead with a chunin jacket and looked around fourteen and fifteen, her black hair reaching her back and black eyes looking at Kazuki with an interesting look in them.
"Yui? What are you doing here?"
Asked Kazuki with some surprise on his face, it's been nearly half a year since he last saw her.
"We came back today knowing you have a day off from academy but you weren't home so I came out to look for you"
"So this is where you have been training over the years, I can see the effort you've put into your training, both from the condition of this ground and your impressive dodging earlier."
Said Yui in response with a rather impressed look on her face, the way kazuki had dodged the sudden attack without showing a slight panic was truly impressive to her as most of those still in the academy would panic encountering a fatal attack suddenly.
"It's nothing out of ordinary" Responded Kazuki calmly and after wiping the sweat on his forehead, continued speaking.
"Anyways I still have some training left for today; I'll go back home in an hour or two, you can go as well."
Saying that he closed his eyes, beginning to mobilize the chakra in his body to practice his chakra control.
"Come on Kazuki! Aren't you excited for a family gathering after nearly half a year? Put your training on hold for a day."
Tried Yui to convince Kazuki to go back with her right now, since joining Anbu a year ago she had stayed on missions all the time and family gatherings to her were like a breather.
"Two more hours after half a year won't make much of a difference."
----
Said Kazuki without opening his eyes, Yui at his words going silent and a sad look flashing in her eyes for a second.
*He's getting more and more distant from the family.*
Thought Yui while looking at Kazuki who stood statue at the spot with his eyes closed, and it was not like she could not understand why.
Unlike her who from time to time would meet her parents at Anbu headquarters, Kazuki had grown up without spending much time with family and that perhaps led to him not develop strong feelings for them.
But what Yui didn't knew was that Kazuki was a soul from another world and his feelings of affection for his parents were way less than that of a typical child.
He did love them and perhaps would feel happy if he sees them smiling and sad if he sees them crying but that love was more of inherited from his previous self.
*I need to do something*
Yui who couldn't see her younger brother growing distant everyday suddenly reached a decision to stop this inwardly, a determined look on her face.
Thup!
Bringing a bright smile on her face, Yui stepped forward and came closer to Kazuki who was busy in his training.
"Then I'll stay here till you finish, we'll go back together"
"Actually do you want me to train you? how about this? do you want to learn this?"
Asked Yui smiling and began to make hand signs before Kazuki who was forced to open his eyes and watch due to the noise she was creating.
Water Style! Water Bullets!
Boom!!!
Flashing the last hand signs, Yui took a deep breath and when she breathed out, small bullets of water blew out of her mouth and hit the trunks of trees around, leaving a deep mark on them.
"How about it? Do you want to learn?"
Asked Yui in a tempting voice, a proud look on her face.
Swish! Swish!
BANG!!!
But the proud look on Yui's face didn't last long as whizzing through the air couple of water bullets flew past her face and hit the tree trunks around but unlike Yui earlier, they easily penetrated through the trunks and even managed to damage the tree behind a lot.
"I…
With an embarrassed look on her face, Yui eyed the trees that got hit by Kazuki's water bullets and opened her mouth several times to say something but unable to everytime, stuttering.
"Your chakra control is actually quite good; with a little better control you could have managed to replicate the damage I did with lesser chakra consumed"
"Anyways you are in no position to train me, go back and wait for me to come back"
Saying that Kazuki who had given Yui a reality check; once again started to regulate his breathing to get in a proper state to mobilize his chakra.
Sigh…
With a complicated face, Yui letting out a sigh left the training spot.
{Half a year later, the same year}
At the forest behind hokage mountains,
Water Style! Water Bullets!!
BOOM!!!
Water bullets roared out of the mouth of Yui and hit the tree trunks, not only penetrating through them but also managing to do the same damage to the tree behind.
"How about it? Do you want me to train you now? I can teach you couple of other jutsu as well"
Offered Yui with a pride filled face, seems to have improved a lot in half a year.
BANG!!
But the answer to her question was no different from half a year ago, this time the water bullet shot by Kazuki blowing most of the tree trunk to bits.
"I hate you!"
After launching the jutsu, Kazuki turned around to say something to Yui but she with a frustrated face ran away, her frustrated voice falling in Kazuki's ears.
"That was some great improvement…Yui"
Kazuki was left alone at the spot muttering words which he wanted to say but couldn't because of her running away.
--------------
(Back to Present)
Thud!
Under the moonlight, Kazuki walking through the streets of konoha arrived outside his house after having a meal together with Tsunade and Nawaki.
On his face was a little smile and the stress because of the trial seemed to have been swept away completely.
"Huh?"
Turning the knob of the door, Kazuki pulled it back to open the door but frowned immediately after seeing a familiar figure leaning on to the wall of the corridor.
"The matter is settled; you don't have to worry about anything anymore"
Said Kazuki calmly to Yui who stood in the corridor wearing a black night suit.
Saying that, Kazuki without giving her another look headed upstairs.
Kazuki walked up the stairs and soon disappeared in Yui's vision who kept looking at him all the time.
Sigh…
"Forget love; we are not even worth his anger"
The moment Kazuki disappeared Yui muttered while letting out a sigh, a sad and dejected look on her face.
Read chapters ahead on p@treon.com/Gojo6666.